Access procedure configuration of a millimeter wave repeater

ABSTRACT

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a repeater may receive configuration information associated with configuring involvement of the repeater in an access procedure; receive a signal associated with the access procedure from a first wireless communication device; and forward the signal associated with the access procedure to a second wireless communication device based at least in part on the configuration information and other information, associated with the access procedure, received by the repeater. Numerous other aspects are provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/993,447, filed on Mar. 23, 2020, entitled “ACCESSPROCEDURE CONFIGURATION OF A MILLIMETER WAVE REPEATER,” and assigned tothe assignee hereof. The disclosure of the prior application isconsidered part of and is incorporated by reference into this patentapplication.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wirelesscommunication and to techniques and apparatuses for access procedureconfiguration of a millimeter wave (mmW) repeater.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power, or the like). Examples of such multiple-accesstechnologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, timedivision multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multipleaccess (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access(OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency-division multiple access(SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multipleaccess (TD-SCDMA) systems, and Long Term Evolution (LTE).LTE/LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by theThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

A wireless network may include a number of base stations (BSs) that cansupport communication for a number of user equipment (UEs). A UE maycommunicate with a BS via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (orforward link) refers to the communication link from the BS to the UE,and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link fromthe UE to the BS. As will be described in more detail herein, a BS maybe referred to as a Node B, a gNB, an access point (AP), a radio head, atransmit receive point (TRP), a New Radio (NR) BS, a 5G Node B, or thelike.

The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent user equipment to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. NR, which may also be referred to as5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated bythe 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internetaccess by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improvingservices, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with otheropen standards using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)with a cyclic prefix (CP) (CP-OFDM) on the downlink (DL), using CP-OFDMand/or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spreadOFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink (UL), as well as supportingbeamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology,and carrier aggregation. As the demand for mobile broadband accesscontinues to increase, further improvements in LTE, NR, and other radioaccess technologies remain useful.

SUMMARY

In some aspects, a method of wireless communication, performed by arepeater, may include receiving configuration information associatedwith configuring involvement of the repeater in an access procedure;receiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device; and forwarding the signal associated withthe access procedure to a second wireless communication device based atleast in part on the configuration information and other information,associated with the access procedure, received by the repeater.

In some aspects, a method of wireless communication, performed by a basestation, may include determining configuration information associatedwith configuring involvement of a repeater in an access procedure whenforwarding a signal, received from a first wireless communicationdevice, to a second wireless communication device; and transmitting theconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in the access procedure and other information associated withthe access procedure to the repeater.

In some aspects, a repeater for wireless communication may include amemory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. Thememory and the one or more processors may be configured to receiveconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in an access procedure; receive a signal associated with theaccess procedure from a first wireless communication device; and forwardthe signal associated with the access procedure to a second wirelesscommunication device based at least in part on the configurationinformation and other information, associated with the access procedure,received by the repeater.

In some aspects, a base station for wireless communication may include amemory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. Thememory and the one or more processors may be configured to determineconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of arepeater in an access procedure when forwarding a signal, received froma first wireless communication device, to a second wirelesscommunication device; and transmit the configuration informationassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the accessprocedure and other information associated with the access procedure tothe repeater.

In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store oneor more instructions for wireless communication. The one or moreinstructions, when executed by one or more processors of a repeater, maycause the one or more processors to receive configuration informationassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in an accessprocedure; receive a signal associated with the access procedure from afirst wireless communication device; and forward the signal associatedwith the access procedure to a second wireless communication devicebased at least in part on the configuration information and otherinformation, associated with the access procedure, received by therepeater.

In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store oneor more instructions for wireless communication. The one or moreinstructions, when executed by one or more processors of a base station,may cause the one or more processors to determine configurationinformation associated with configuring involvement of a repeater in anaccess procedure when forwarding a signal, received from a firstwireless communication device, to a second wireless communicationdevice; and transmit the configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in the access procedure andother information associated with the access procedure to the repeater.

In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may includemeans for receiving configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the apparatus in an access procedure; meansfor receiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device; and means for forwarding the signalassociated with the access procedure to a second wireless communicationdevice based at least in part on the configuration information and otherinformation, associated with the access procedure, received by therepeater.

In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may includemeans for determining configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of a repeater in an access procedure whenforwarding a signal, received from a first wireless communicationdevice, to a second wireless communication device; and means fortransmitting the configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure and otherinformation associated with the access procedure to the repeater.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer programproduct, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, basestation, wireless communication device, and/or processing system assubstantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated bythe drawings and specification.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of theconcepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method ofoperation, together with associated advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposesof illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limitsof the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the above-recited features of the present disclosure can beunderstood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarizedabove, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustratedin the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appendeddrawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure andare therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for thedescription may admit to other equally effective aspects. The samereference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similarelements.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network, inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station incommunication with a UE in a wireless network, in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating examples of radio access networks, inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of communicating using amillimeter wave repeater, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating example millimeter wave (mmW)repeaters, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example associated with accessprocedure configuration of a mmW repeater, in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, forexample, by a repeater, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, forexample, by a base station, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of a data flowbetween different components in an example apparatus, in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus employing a processing system, inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of a data flowbetween different components in an example apparatus, in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus employing a processing system, inaccordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to any specific structure or function presented throughoutthis disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on theteachings herein, one skilled in the art should appreciate that thescope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of thedisclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of orcombined with any other aspect of the disclosure. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of thedisclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which ispracticed using other structure, functionality, or structure andfunctionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of thedisclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect ofthe disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elementsof a claim.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented withreference to various apparatuses and techniques. These apparatuses andtechniques will be described in the following detailed description andillustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules,components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, or the like(collectively referred to as “elements”). These elements may beimplemented using hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Whethersuch elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem.

It should be noted that while aspects may be described herein usingterminology commonly associated with a 5G or NR radio access technology(RAT), aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to other RATs,such as a 3G RAT, a 4G RAT, and/or a RAT subsequent to 5G (e.g., 6G).

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network 100,in accordance with the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 maybe or may include elements of a 5G (NR) network and/or an LTE network,among other examples. The wireless network 100 may include a number ofbase stations 110 (shown as BS 110 a, BS 110 b, BS 110 c, and BS 110 d)and other network entities. A base station (BS) is an entity thatcommunicates with user equipment (UEs) and may also be referred to as anNR BS, a Node B, a gNB, a 5G node B (NB), an access point, a transmitreceive point (TRP), or the like. Each BS may provide communicationcoverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” canrefer to a coverage area of a BS and/or a BS subsystem serving thiscoverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). ABS for a macro cell may bereferred to as a macro BS. ABS for a pico cell may be referred to as apico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or ahome BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a BS 110 a may be a macro BSfor a macro cell 102 a, a BS 110 b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and a BS 110 c may be a femto BS for a femto cell 102 c. A BS maysupport one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. The terms “eNB”, “basestation”, “NR BS”, “gNB”, “TRP”, “AP”, “node B”, “5G NB”, and “cell” maybe used interchangeably herein.

In some aspects, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and thegeographic area of the cell may move according to the location of amobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected to one anotherand/or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in thewireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces, suchas a direct physical connection or a virtual network, using any suitabletransport network.

Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station isan entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstreamstation (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to adownstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be aUE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown inFIG. 1, a relay BS 110 d may communicate with macro BS 110 a and a UE120 d in order to facilitate communication between BS 110 a and UE 120d. A relay BS may also be referred to as a relay station, a relay basestation, a relay, or the like.

Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs ofdifferent types, such as macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, orthe like. These different types of BSs may have different transmit powerlevels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interferencein wireless network 100. For example, macro BSs may have a high transmitpower level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts) whereas pico BSs, femto BSs, and relayBSs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts).

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and may providecoordination and control for these BSs. Network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicatewith one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via a wireless orwireline backhaul.

UEs 120 (e.g., 120 a, 120 b, 120 c) may be dispersed throughout wirelessnetwork 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also bereferred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, asubscriber unit, a station, or the like. A UE may be a cellular phone(e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wirelessmodem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptopcomputer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, atablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook,a medical device or equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearabledevices (smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet)), anentertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satelliteradio), a vehicular component or sensor, smart meters/sensors,industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device,or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via awireless or wired medium.

Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) or evolvedor enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEsinclude, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters,monitors, and/or location tags, that may communicate with a basestation, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity. Awireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network(e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via awired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be consideredInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and/or may be implemented as NB-IoT(narrowband internet of things) devices. Some UEs may be considered aCustomer Premises Equipment (CPE). UE 120 may be included inside ahousing that houses components of UE 120, such as processor componentsand/or memory components. In some aspects, the processor components andthe memory components may be coupled together. For example, theprocessor components (e.g., one or more processors) and the memorycomponents (e.g., a memory) may be operatively coupled, communicativelycoupled, electronically coupled, and/or electrically coupled.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular RAT andmay operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to asa radio technology, an air interface, or the like. A frequency may alsobe referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, or the like. Eachfrequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in orderto avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. Insome cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120 a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g.,without using a base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate withone another). For example, the UEs 120 may communicate usingpeer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D)communications, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (e.g., which mayinclude a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol or avehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol), and/or a mesh network. Inthis case, the UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resourceselection operations, and/or other operations described elsewhere hereinas being performed by the base station 110.

In some aspects, millimeter wave (mmW) repeater 140 (sometimes referredto herein as a repeater 140) may receive an analog millimeter wavesignal from a base station 110, may amplify the analog millimeter wavesignal, and may transmit the amplified millimeter wave signal to one ormore UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120 f). In some aspects, the mmWrepeater 140 may be an analog mmW repeater, sometimes also referred toas a layer-1 mmW repeater. Additionally, or alternatively, the mmWrepeater 140 may be a wireless TRP acting as a distributed unit (e.g.,of a 5G access node) that communicates wirelessly with a base station110 acting as a central unit or an access node controller (e.g., of the5G access node). The mmW repeater may receive, amplify, and transmit theanalog mmW signal without performing analog-to-digital conversion of theanalog mmW signal and/or without performing any digital signalprocessing on the mmW signal. In this way, latency may be reduced and acost to produce the mmW repeater 140 may be reduced. Additional detailsregarding mmW repeater 140 are provided elsewhere herein.

In some aspects, a base station 110 may determine configurationinformation associated with configuring involvement of a mmW repeater140 in an access procedure when forwarding a signal, and may transmitthe configuration information associated with configuring involvement ofthe mmW repeater 140 in the access procedure, as described herein. Insome aspects, the mmW repeater 140 may receive the configurationinformation associated with configuring involvement of the mmW repeater140 in the access procedure, and may receive and forward a signal,associated with the access procedure, based at least in part on theconfiguration information, as described herein.

Devices of wireless network 100 may communicate using theelectromagnetic spectrum, which may be subdivided based on frequency orwavelength into various classes, bands, channels, or the like. Forexample, devices of wireless network 100 may communicate using anoperating band having a first frequency range (FR1), which may span from410 MHz to 7.125 GHz, and/or may communicate using an operating bandhaving a second frequency range (FR2), which may span from 24.25 GHz to52.6 GHz. The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are sometimes referred toas mid-band frequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, FR1 is often referred to as a “sub-6 GHz” band. Similarly, FR2 isoften referred to as a “millimeter wave” band despite being differentfrom the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) which isidentified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a“millimeter wave” band. Thus, unless specifically stated otherwise, itshould be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like, if usedherein, may broadly represent frequencies less than 6 GHz, frequencieswithin FR1, and/or mid-band frequencies (e.g., greater than 7.125 GHz).Similarly, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understoodthat the term “millimeter wave” or the like, if used herein, may broadlyrepresent frequencies within the EHF band, frequencies within FR2,and/or mid-band frequencies (e.g., less than 24.25 GHz). It iscontemplated that the frequencies included in FR1 and FR2 may bemodified, and techniques described herein are applicable to thosemodified frequency ranges.

As indicated above, FIG. 1 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with regard to FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of a base station 110 incommunication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100, in accordancewith the present disclosure. Base station 110 may be equipped with Tantennas 234 a through 234 t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas252 a through 252 r, where in general T≥1 and R≥1.

At base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from adata source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation andcoding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channelquality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., encodeand modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS(s)selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmitprocessor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-staticresource partitioning information (SRPI)) and control information (e.g.,CQI requests, grants, and/or upper layer signaling) and provide overheadsymbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 220 may also generatereference symbols for reference signals (e.g., a cell-specific referencesignal (CRS) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)) andsynchronization signals (e.g., a primary synchronization signal (PSS) ora secondary synchronization signal (SSS)). A transmit (TX)multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatialprocessing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols,the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, andmay provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232 a through232 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream(e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Tdownlink signals from modulators 232 a through 232 t may be transmittedvia T antennas 234 a through 234 t, respectively.

At UE 120, antennas 252 a through 252 r may receive the downlink signalsfrom base station 110 and/or other base stations and may providereceived signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254 a through 254 r,respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,downconvert, and digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples.Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., forOFDM) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtainreceived symbols from all R demodulators 254 a through 254 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulateand decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to adata sink 260, and provide decoded control information and systeminformation to a controller/processor 280. The term“controller/processor” may refer to one or more controllers, one or moreprocessors, or a combination thereof. A channel processor may determinea reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) parameter, a reference signal received quality(RSRQ) parameter, and/or a CQI) parameter, among other examples. In someaspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing284.

Network controller 130 may include communication unit 294,controller/processor 290, and memory 292. Network controller 130 mayinclude, for example, one or more devices in a core network. Networkcontroller 130 may communicate with base station 110 via communicationunit 294.

Antennas (e.g., antennas 234 a through 234 t and/or antennas 252 athrough 252 r) may include, or may be included within, one or moreantenna panels, antenna groups, sets of antenna elements, and/or antennaarrays, among other examples. An antenna panel, an antenna group, a setof antenna elements, and/or an antenna array may include one or moreantenna elements. An antenna panel, an antenna group, a set of antennaelements, and/or an antenna array may include a set of coplanar antennaelements and/or a set of non-coplanar antenna elements. An antennapanel, an antenna group, a set of antenna elements, and/or an antennaarray may include antenna elements within a single housing and/orantenna elements within multiple housings. An antenna panel, an antennagroup, a set of antenna elements, and/or an antenna array may includeone or more antenna elements coupled to one or more transmission and/orreception components, such as one or more components of FIG. 2.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive andprocess data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., forreports that include RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and/or CQI) fromcontroller/processor 280. Transmit processor 264 may also generatereference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols fromtransmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 ifapplicable, further processed by modulators 254 a through 254 r (e.g.,for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM), and transmitted to base station 110. In someaspects, a modulator and a demodulator (e.g., MOD/DEMOD 254) of the UE120 may be included in a modem of the UE 120. In some aspects, the UE120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combinationof antenna(s) 252, modulators and/or demodulators 254, MIMO detector256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and/or TX MIMOprocessor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g.,controller/processor 280) and memory 282 to perform aspects of any ofthe methods described herein, for example, as described with referenceto FIGS. 6-8.

At base station 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and other UEs may bereceived by antennas 234, processed by demodulators 232, detected by aMIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receiveprocessor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE120. Receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink239 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 240.Base station 110 may include communication unit 244 and communicate tonetwork controller 130 via communication unit 244. Base station 110 mayinclude a scheduler 246 to schedule UEs 120 for downlink and/or uplinkcommunications. In some aspects, a modulator and a demodulator (e.g.,MOD/DEMOD 232) of the base station 110 may be included in a modem of thebase station 110. In some aspects, the base station 110 includes atransceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antenna(s)234, modulators and/or demodulators 232, MIMO detector 236, receiveprocessor 238, transmit processor 220, and/or TX MIMO processor 230. Thetransceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller/processor 240)and memory 242 to perform aspects of any of the methods describedherein, for example, as described with reference to FIGS. 6-8.

Controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280of UE 120, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform one ormore techniques associated with access procedure configuration of a mmWrepeater, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example,controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280of UE 120, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or directoperations of, for example, process 800 of FIG. 8 and/or other processesas described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and programcodes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. In some aspects,memory 242 and/or memory 282 may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing one or more instructions (e.g., codeand/or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one ormore instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compiling,converting, and/or interpreting) by one or more processors of the basestation 110 and/or the UE 120, may cause the one or more processors, theUE 120, and/or the base station 110 to perform or direct operations of,for example, process 800 of FIG. 8 and/or other processes as describedherein. In some aspects, executing instructions may include running theinstructions, converting the instructions, compiling the instructions,and/or interpreting the instructions, among other examples.

In some aspects, base station 110 may include means for determiningconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of ammW repeater 140 in an access procedure when forwarding a signal,received from a first wireless communication device (e.g., a basestation 110, a UE 120, or the like), to a second wireless communicationdevice (e.g., the UE 120, the base station 110, or the like); means fortransmitting the configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the mmW repeater 140 in the access procedure and otherinformation associated with the access procedure to the repeater; and/orthe like. In some aspects, such means may include one or more componentsof base station 110 described in connection with FIG. 2, such as antenna234, DEMOD 232, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238,controller/processor 240, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230,MOD 232, antenna 234, and/or the like.

While blocks in FIG. 2 are illustrated as distinct components, thefunctions described above with respect to the blocks may be implementedin a single hardware, software, or combination component or in variouscombinations of components. For example, the functions described withrespect to the transmit processor 264, the receive processor 258, and/orthe TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by or under the control ofcontroller/processor 280.

As indicated above, FIG. 2 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with regard to FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating examples 300 of radio access networks,in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown by reference number 305, a traditional (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE,and/or the like) radio access network may include multiple base stations310 (e.g., access nodes (AN)), where each base station 310 communicateswith a core network via a wired backhaul link 315, such as a fiberconnection. A base station 310 may communicate with a UE 320 via anaccess link 325, which may be a wireless link. In some aspects, a basestation 310 shown in FIG. 3 may correspond to a base station 110 shownin FIG. 1. Similarly, a UE 320 shown in FIG. 3 may correspond to a UE120 shown in FIG. 1.

As shown by reference number 330, a radio access network may include awireless backhaul network, sometimes referred to as an integrated accessand backhaul (IAB) network. In an IAB network, at least one base stationis an anchor base station 335 that communicates with a core network viaa wired backhaul link 340, such as a fiber connection. An anchor basestation 335 may also be referred to as an IAB donor (or IAB-donor). TheIAB network may include one or more non-anchor base stations 345,sometimes referred to as relay base stations or IAB nodes (orIAB-nodes). The non-anchor base station 345 may communicate directlywith or indirectly with (e.g., via one or more non-anchor base stations345) the anchor base station 335 via one or more backhaul links 350 toform a backhaul path to the core network for carrying backhaul traffic.Backhaul link 350 may be a wireless link. Anchor base station(s) 335and/or non-anchor base station(s) 345 may communicate with one or moreUEs 355 via access links 360, which may be wireless links for carryingaccess traffic. In some aspects, an anchor base station 335 and/or anon-anchor base station 345 shown in FIG. 3 may correspond to a basestation 110 shown in FIG. 1. Similarly, a UE 355 shown in FIG. 3 maycorrespond to a UE 120 shown in FIG. 1.

As shown by reference number 365, in some aspects, a radio accessnetwork that includes an IAB network may utilize millimeter wavetechnology and/or directional communications (e.g., beamforming,precoding and/or the like) for communications between base stationsand/or UEs (e.g., between two base stations, between two UEs, and/orbetween a base station and a UE). For example, wireless backhaul links370 between base stations may use millimeter waves to carry informationand/or may be directed toward a target base station using beamforming,precoding, and/or the like. Similarly, the wireless access links 375between a UE and a base station may use millimeter waves and/or may bedirected toward a target wireless node (e.g., a UE and/or a basestation). In this way, inter-link interference may be reduced.

In some aspects, an IAB network may support a multi-hop wirelessbackhaul. Additionally, or alternatively, nodes of an IAB network mayuse the same radio access technology (e.g., 5G/NR). Additionally, oralternatively, nodes of an IAB network may share resources for accesslinks and backhaul links, such as time resources, frequency resources,spatial resources, and/or the like. Furthermore, various architecturesof IAB nodes and/or IAB donors may be supported.

The configuration of base stations and UEs in FIG. 3 is shown as anexample, and other examples are contemplated. For example, one or morebase stations illustrated in FIG. 3 may be replaced by one or more UEsthat communicate via a UE-to-UE access network (e.g., a peer-to-peernetwork, a device-to-device network, and/or the like). In this case, ananchor node may refer to a UE that is directly in communication with abase station (e.g., an anchor base station or a non-anchor basestation).

As indicated above, FIG. 3 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with regard to FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example 400 of communicating usingan analog millimeter wave repeater, in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

Because millimeter wave communications have a higher frequency andshorter wavelength than other types of radio waves used forcommunications (e.g., sub-6 GHz communications), millimeter wavecommunications may have shorter propagation distances and may be moreeasily blocked by obstructions than other types of radio waves. Forexample, a wireless communication that uses sub-6 GHz radio waves may becapable of penetrating a wall of a building or a structure to providecoverage to an area on an opposite side of the wall from a base station110 that communicates using the sub-6 GHz radio waves. However, amillimeter wave may not be capable of penetrating the same wall (e.g.,depending on a thickness of the wall, a material from which the wall isconstructed, and/or the like). Some techniques and apparatuses describedherein use a millimeter wave repeater 140 to increase the coverage areaof a base station 110, to extend coverage to UEs 120 without line ofsight to the base station 110 (e.g., due to an obstruction), and/or thelike. Furthermore, the millimeter wave repeater 140 described herein maybe a layer 1 or an analog millimeter wave repeater, which is associatedwith a lower cost, less processing, and lower latency than a layer 2 orlayer 3 repeater.

As shown in FIG. 4, a millimeter wave repeater 140 may performdirectional communication by using beamforming to communicate with abase station 110 via a first beam (e.g., a backhaul beam over a backhaullink with the base station 110) and to communicate with a UE 120 via asecond beam (e.g., an access beam over an access link with the UE 120).To achieve long propagation distances and/or to satisfy a required linkbudget, the millimeter wave repeater may use narrow beams (e.g., with abeam width less than a threshold) for such communications.

However, using a narrower beam requires the use of more resources of themillimeter wave repeater 140 (e.g., processing resources, memoryresources, power, battery power, and/or the like) and more networkresources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources,and/or the like), as compared to a wider beam, to perform beam training(e.g., to determine a suitable beam), beam maintenance (e.g., to find asuitable beam as conditions change due to mobility and/or the like),beam management, and/or the like. This may waste resources of themillimeter wave repeater 140 and/or network resources as compared tousing a wider beam, and may lead to increased cost of production ofmillimeter wave repeaters 140, which may be deployed extensivelythroughout a radio access network.

For example, a millimeter wave repeater 140 may be deployed in a fixedlocation with limited or no mobility, similar to a base station 110. Asshown in FIG. 4, the millimeter wave repeater 140 may use a narrowerbeam to communicate with the base station 110 without unnecessarilyconsuming network resources and/or resources of the millimeter waverepeater 140 because the need for beam training, beam maintenance,and/or beam management may be limited, due to limited or no mobility ofthe base station 110 and the millimeter wave repeater 140 (and/or due toa line of sight communication path between the base station 110 and themillimeter wave repeater 140).

As further shown in FIG. 4, the millimeter wave repeater 140 may use awider beam (e.g., a pseudo-omnidirectional beam and/or the like) tocommunicate with one or more UEs 120. This wider beam may provide widercoverage for access links, thereby providing coverage to mobile UEs 120without requiring frequent beam training, beam maintenance, and/or beammanagement. In this way, network resources and/or resources of themillimeter wave repeater 140 may be conserved. Furthermore, if themillimeter wave repeater 140 does not include digital signal processingcapabilities, resources of the base station 110 (e.g., processingresources, memory resources, and/or the like) may be conserved thatwould otherwise be used to perform such signal processing for themillimeter wave repeater 140, and network resources may be conservedthat would otherwise be used to communicate input to or output of suchprocessing between the base station 110 and the millimeter wave repeater140.

In this way, the millimeter wave repeater 140 may increase a coveragearea, provide access around obstructions (as shown), and/or the like,while conserving resources of the base station 110, resources of themillimeter wave repeater 140, network resources, and/or the like.Additional details are described below.

As indicated above, FIG. 4 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with regard to FIG. 4.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating examples of a millimeter waverepeater 500, in accordance with the present disclosure. In someaspects, millimeter wave repeater 500 may correspond to millimeter waverepeater 140 shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in some aspects, the millimeter wave repeater 500may include one or more phased array antennas 510-1 through 510-N (N≥1),a gain component 520, a controller 530, a communication component 540,and a multiplexer (MUX) and/or demultiplexer (DEMUX) (MUX/DEMUX) 550.

As shown in FIG. 5B, in some aspects, the millimeter wave repeater 500may include one or more metamaterial antennas 510′-1 through 510′-N,gain component 520, controller 530, communication component 540, and oneor more MUX/DEMUX 550.

An antenna 510/510′ includes one or more antenna elements capable ofbeing configured for beamforming. In some aspects, as illustrated inFIG. 5A, millimeter wave repeater 500 may include one or more phasedarray antennas 510, which may be referred to as a phased array becausephase values and/or phase offsets of the antenna elements may beconfigured to form a beam, with different phase values and/or phaseoffsets being used for different beams (e.g., in different directions).

In some aspects, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, millimeter wave repeater 500may include one or more metamaterial antennas 510′. In some aspects, ametamaterial antenna may comprise a synthetic material with negativepermittivity and/or permeability, which yields a negative refractiveindex. Due to the resulting superior antenna gain and electro-magneticlensing, the metamaterial antenna may not need to be used in aphased-array configuration. However, if in a phased-array configuration,antenna spacing may be less than a typically used spacing of lambda/2,where lambda refers to a wavelength of the RF carrier signal. In someaspects, due to superior beamforming, the metamaterial antenna mayreduce leakage back to the receive (RX) antenna and may reduce a chanceof instability in the RF chain. Hence, the use of metamaterial antennasmay reduce or obviate a need for a feedback path.

In some aspects, an antenna 510/510′ may be a fixed RX antenna capableof only receiving communications, and not transmitting communications.In some aspects, an antenna 510/510′ may be a fixed TX antenna capableof only transmitting communications, and not receiving communications.In some aspects, an antenna 510/510′ may be capable of being configuredto act as an RX antenna or a TX antenna (e.g., via a TX/RX switch, aMUX/DEMUX, and/or the like). The antennas 510/510′ may be capable ofcommunicating using millimeter waves.

Gain component 520 includes a component capable of amplifying an inputsignal and outputting an amplified signal. For example, gain component520 may include a power amplifier, a variable gain component, and/or thelike. In some aspects, gain component 520 may have variable gaincontrol. The gain component 520 may connect to an RX antenna (e.g., afirst antenna 510/510′-1) and a TX antenna (e.g., a second antenna510/510′-2) such that an analog millimeter wave signal, received via theRX antenna, can be amplified by the gain component 520 and output to theTX antenna for transmission. In some aspects, the level of amplificationof the gain component 520 may be controlled by the controller 530.

Controller 530 includes a component capable of controlling one or moreother components of the millimeter wave repeater 500. For example, thecontroller 530 may include a controller, a microcontroller, a processor,and/or the like. In some aspects, the controller 530 may control thegain component 520 by controlling a level of amplification or gainapplied by the gain component 520 to an input signal. Additionally, oralternatively, the controller 530 may control an antenna 510/510′ bycontrolling a beamforming configuration for the antenna 510/510′ (e.g.,one or more phase values for the antenna 510/510′, one or more phaseoffsets for the antenna 510/510′, one or more power parameters for theantenna 510/510′, one or more beamforming parameters for the antenna510/510′, a TX beamforming configuration, an RX beamformingconfiguration, and/or the like), by controlling whether the antenna510/510′ acts as an RX antenna or a TX antenna (e.g., by configuringinteraction and/or connections between the antenna 510/510′ and aMUX/DEMUX 550), and/or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, thecontroller 530 may power on or power off one or more components ofmillimeter wave repeater 500 (e.g., when a base station 110 does notneed to use the millimeter wave repeater to serve UEs 120). In someaspects, the controller 530 may control a timing of one or more of theabove configurations.

Communication component 540 may include a component capable ofwirelessly communicating with a base station 110 using a wirelesstechnology other than millimeter wave. For example, the communicationcomponent 540 may communicate with the base station 110 using a personalarea network (PAN) technology (e.g., Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), and/or the like), a 4G or LTE radio access technology, anarrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology, a visible lightcommunication technology, and/or the like. In general, the communicationcomponent 540 enables communication (e.g., with base station 110) via alow frequency (LF) interface (e.g., an interface that uses a sub-6 GHzfrequency). In some aspects, the communication component 540 may use alow frequency communication technology, and an antenna 510/510′ may usea higher frequency (HF) communication technology (e.g., millimeter waveand/or the like). In some aspects, an antenna 510/510′ may be used totransfer data between the millimeter wave repeater 500 and the basestation 110, and the communication component 540 may be used to transfercontrol information between the millimeter wave repeater 500 and thebase station 110 (e.g., a report, a configuration, instructions to poweron or power off one or more components, and/or the like).

MUX/DEMUX 550 may be used to multiplex and/or demultiplex communicationsreceived from and/or transmitted to an antenna 510/510′. For example,MUX/DEMUX 550 may be used to switch an RX antenna to a TX antenna.

In some aspects, the millimeter wave repeater 500 does not include anycomponents for digital signal processing. For example, the millimeterwave repeater 500 may not include a digital signal processor, a basebandprocessor, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC), and/or the like. In this way, a cost to produce themillimeter wave repeater 500 may be reduced. Furthermore, latency may bereduced by eliminating digital processing of received millimeter wavesignals prior to transmission of corresponding amplified millimeter wavesignals.

In some aspects, one or more antennas 510/510′, gain component 520,controller 530, communication component 540, MUX/DEMUX 550, and/or thelike may perform one or more operations associated with access procedureconfiguration of a mmW repeater, as described in more detail elsewhereherein. For example, one or more components of millimeter wave repeater500 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 700 ofFIG. 7 and/or other processes as described herein.

In some aspects, millimeter wave repeater 500 may include means forreceiving configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the mmW repeater 500 in an access procedure; means forreceiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device (e.g., a base station 110, a UE 120, orthe like); means for forwarding the signal associated with the accessprocedure to a second wireless communication device (e.g., the UE 120,the base station, or the like) based at least in part on theconfiguration information and other information, associated with theaccess procedure, received by the mmW repeater 500; and/or the like. Insome aspects, such means may include one or more components ofmillimeter wave repeater 500 described in connection with FIGS. 5A and5B.

As indicated above, FIGS. 5A and 5B are provided as an example. Otherexamples may differ from what is described with regard to FIGS. 5A and5B. For example, millimeter wave repeater 500 may include additionalcomponents, fewer components, different components, or differentlyarranged components than those shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Furthermore,two or more components shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B may be implementedwithin a single component, or a single component shown in FIGS. 5A and5B may be implemented as multiple components. Additionally, oralternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) ofmillimeter wave repeater 500 may perform one or more functions describedas being performed by another set of components of millimeter waverepeater 500.

In a wireless communication system, a backhaul link may be establishedbetween a base station (e.g., a base station 110) and a repeater (e.g.,a mmW repeater 140). The backhaul link can be used, for example, as acontrol path for carrying signals (e.g., uplink signals and/or downlinksignals) associated with configuring the repeater. A repeater capablefor which operation can be configured in such a way can also be referredto as a smart repeater or a hybrid node. In some cases, the backhaullink may use a relatively small bandwidth part in the mmW frequencyrange (e.g., in FR2) and may achieve a relatively low data rate.Further, an access link may be established between the base station anda UE (e.g., UE 120), with the repeater being configured to act as arelay between the base station and the UE (e.g., such that the repeaterreceives and forwards signals on the access link). The access link canbe used, for example, as a data path for carrying signals (e.g., uplinksignals and/or downlink signals) between the base station and the UE. Insome cases, the access link may use a relatively larger bandwidth in themmW frequency range and may achieve a relatively high data rate. In somedeployments, signals on the backhaul link can be multiplexed (e.g.,frequency domain multiplexed (FDM)) with signals on the access link.

Operation of the repeater with respect to the access link can beconfigured via the backhaul link. That is, operation of the repeater inassociation with receiving and forwarding signals on the access link canbe configured via the backhaul link. For example, the backhaul link canbe used to configure the repeater with a beamforming configuration to beused on the access link (e.g., a configuration indicating one or morebeams to be used for receiving or forwarding a signal), a switchingconfiguration to be used on the access link (e.g., a configurationindicating whether the repeater is to receive and forward signals on thedownlink or the uplink), and a schedule to be used on the access link(e.g., an indication of time resources in which to adopt the beamformingand switching configurations). Additional examples of configurationsthat may be provided via the backhaul link include a transmit powerconfiguration for the access link (e.g., a configuration indicating atransmit power to be used when forwarding a signal) and an on-offconfiguration to be used on the access link (e.g., a configurationindicating whether the repeater is to forward signals or refrain fromforwarding signals).

In some cases, such configurations of the repeater can be provided usinga control signal on the backhaul link. For example, a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format may be defined to enable information associatedwith one or more of the above configurations to be provided. In somecases, such a control signal may be a common-purpose control signal(e.g., a DCI) that can be used to configure (e.g., dynamically and/orsemi-statically) operation of the repeater in a set of upcomingresources. In general, a common-purpose control signal can be used forconfiguring operation of the repeater as related to any procedureassociated with the access link. For example, a common-purpose controlsignal may be used to configure the repeater for receiving andforwarding cell-specific or broadcast communications (e.g.,synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), remaining minimum systeminformation (RMSI), random access channel (RACH) related messages,and/or the like) on the uplink or the downlink. As another example, acommon-purpose control signal may be used to configure the repeater forreceiving and forwarding UE-specific uplink and downlink communications(e.g., semi-statically scheduled communications, dynamically scheduledcommunications, one-time communications, periodic communications,semi-persistent communications, or the like).

As a particular example, common-purpose control signals can be used toconfigure the repeater for operation as related to an initial accessprocedure associated with the access link. From the perspective of abase station, an initial access procedure includes periodicallytransmitting one or more SSBs and, for each SSB, periodicallytransmitting physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) schedulingRMSI, transmitting physical downlink shared channel (PDSCHs) carryingthe scheduled RMSI, and having RACH occasions for receiving RACHmessages (e.g., RACH preambles). Here, to extend coverage of the initialaccess procedure, the base station may need to configure the repeater toreceive and forward at least a subset of the SSBs, RMSI PDCCH/PDSCH, andRACH messages associated with the initial access procedure. The basestation may use common-purpose control signals to configure the repeateroperation on resources associated with these signals related to theinitial access procedure. However, configuration of the repeater usingcommon-purpose control signals may result in an undesirable amount ofsignaling overhead and/or inefficient resource usage (e.g., due to thenumber of common-purpose control signals needed and/or the amount ofinformation to be conveyed in the common-purpose control signals).

Some aspects described herein provide techniques and apparatuses foraccess procedure configuration of a repeater (e.g., a mmW repeater 140).In some aspects, as described below, information that is available tothe repeater (e.g., information previously received by the repeater) maybe leveraged to simplify configuration of the repeater with respect toinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure, which may reducesignaling overhead and/or improve resource usage efficiency whenconfiguring involvement of the repeater in the access procedure.

For example, with regard to an initial access procedure, a repeater thatuses an in-band control path (e.g., a control path in a same frequencyband as a data path) would have previously detected a base station onthe frequency band and acquired system information (SI) associated withthe base station. Therefore, the repeater would have informationindicating a location (e.g., in a time-domain) of SSBs transmitted bythe base station (e.g., based on a bitmap received in system informationblock 1 (SIB1) and/or one or more radio resource control (RRC) messagesthat indicate the location of actually transmitted SSBs), a RMSI PDCCHconfiguration and resources associated with each SSB, a RACH message(e.g., MSG1) configuration and resources associated with each SSB, and aPDCCH configuration and resource for RACH responses. Such informationcan be leveraged to allow a number and/or size of control messages,associated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the initialaccess procedure, to be reduced, thereby reducing signaling overheadand/or improving resource usage efficiency associated with configuringthe repeater.

In some aspects, the improved configuration of the repeater may utilizeconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in an access procedure (herein referred to as an accessprocedure configuration). In some aspects, the access procedureconfiguration may require a comparatively smaller amount of informationthan a configuration provided via a typical common-purpose controlmessage. In some aspects, as described in further detail below, a basestation may determine the access procedure configuration and maytransmit the access procedure configuration to the repeater. Therepeater may receive the access procedure configuration, receive asignal associated with the access procedure from a first wirelesscommunication device (e.g., the base station, a UE, or the like), andforward the signal associated with the access procedure to a secondwireless communication device (e.g., the UE, the base station, or thelike) based at least in part on the access procedure configuration.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example 600 associated with accessprocedure configuration of a repeater (e.g., a mmW repeater 140), inaccordance with the present disclosure. In example 600, the repeater isto act as a relay between a base station (e.g., a base station 110) anda UE (e.g., UE 120).

As shown in FIG. 6 by reference 602, the base station may determineconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in an access procedure when forwarding a signal (e.g., to/fromthe UE). Such configuration information is herein referred to an accessprocedure configuration. The base station may determine theconfiguration information using, for example, transmit processor 220,receive processor 238, controller/processor 240, memory 242,determination component 1106, or the like.

In some aspects, the access procedure configuration may include anindication of whether the repeater is to forward signals in resourcesassociated with a set of SSBs, PDCCHs associated with scheduling RMSIassociated with the set of SSBs, RACH messages carried in RACH occasionsassociated with the set of SSBs, PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACHresponses, and/or the like.

In some aspects, the indication can be carried in a single bit. Forexample, a single bit may be used to indicate whether the repeater is toforward signals (e.g., uplink signals and downlink signals) on resourcesassociated with the set of SSBs, PDCCHs associated with scheduling RMSIassociated with the set of SSBs, RACH messages carried in RACH occasionsassociated with the set of SSBs, and PDCCHs associated with schedulingresponses to the RACH messages. Here, a first value (e.g., 1) of thesingle bit may be used to indicate that the repeater is to forwardsignals in resources associated with each of the above described typesof access procedure communications, while a second value (e.g., 0) ofthe single bit may be used to indicate that the repeater is not toforward signals in the resources associated with any of these types ofaccess procedure communications.

Alternatively, in some aspects, the indication may be carried in abitmap. For example, a bitmap may be used to indicate whether therepeater is to forward signals on resources associated with the set ofSSBs, PDCCHs associated with scheduling RMSI associated with the set ofSSBs, RACH messages carried in RACH occasions associated with the set ofSSBs, and/or PDCCHs associated with scheduling responses to the RACHmessages. Here, a first value (e.g., 1) in a first bit of the bitmap maybe used to indicate that the repeater is to forward signals in resourcesassociated with a first type of access procedure communication (e.g.,the set of SSBs), while a second value (e.g., 0) in the first bit may beused to indicate that the repeater is not to forward signals inresources associated with the first type of access procedurecommunication. Similarly, the first value in a second bit in the bitmapmay be used to indicate that the repeater is to forward signals inresources associated with a second type of access procedurecommunication (e.g., PDCCHs associated with scheduling RMSI), while thesecond value in the second bit may be used to indicate that the repeateris not to forward signals in resources associated with the second typeof access procedure communication.

In some aspects, the access procedure configuration may include a bitmapcomprising a set of bits, where a given bit of the set of bits indicateswhether to forward signals in resources associated with a particular SSBand, optionally, one or more other types of access procedurecommunications associated with the particular SSB (e.g., PDCCHsassociated with scheduling RMSI associated with the particular SSB, RACHmessages associated with the particular SSB, PDCCHs associated withscheduling RACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the SSB,or the like). For example, a first value (e.g., 1) in a first bit of thebitmap may be used to indicate that the repeater is to forward signalsin resources associated with a first SSB and in resources associatedwith other types of access procedure communications associated with thefirst SSB, while a second value (e.g., 0) in the first bit of the bitmapmay be used to indicate that the repeater is not to forward signals inresources associated with the first SSB or in resources associated withother types of access procedure communications associated with the firstSSB. Similarly, the first value in a second bit of the bitmap may beused to indicate that the repeater is to forward signals in resourcesassociated with a second SSB and in resources associated with othertypes of access procedure communications associated with the second SSB,while the second value in the second bit of the bitmap may be used toindicate that the repeater is not to forward signals in resourcesassociated with the second SSB or in resources associated with othertypes of access procedure communications associated with the second SSB.In some aspects, a number of bits in the bitmap may match a maximumnumber of SSBs for a frequency range in which the repeater is operating(e.g., the bitmap may have a size of 64 bits for FR2). Alternatively, insome aspects, a number of bits in the bitmap may match a number of SSBsactually transmitted by the base station (which may be previouslyindicated to the repeater by the base station via, for example, an RRCmessage). Alternatively, in some aspects, the bitmap may be a compressedbitmap (e.g., such that a number of bits in the bitmap is less than anumber of SSBs actually transmitted by the base station). In such acase, a first bit of the bitmap may correspond to a first subset of theSSBs, a second bit of the bitmap may correspond to a second subset ofthe SSBs, and so on (e.g., such that the access procedure configurationis the same for each subset of SSBs).

In some aspects, the access procedure configuration may include abeamforming configuration. That is, in some aspects, the accessprocedure configuration may include beamforming configurationinformation that indicates beam directions to be used (e.g., on theservice-side) for forwarding signals in resources associated with theaccess procedure.

As shown by reference 604, the base station may transmit, and therepeater may receive, the access procedure configuration. In someaspects, the base station has a control interface to the repeater, andthe base station may transmit the access procedure configuration via thecontrol interface. In some aspects, the base station may transmit, andthe repeater may receive, the access procedure configuration via, forexample, DCI, a medium access control control element (MAC-CE), RRCsignaling, and/or the like. The base station may transmit the accessprocedure configuration using, for example, transmit processor 220,antenna 234, controller/processor 240, memory 242, transmissioncomponent 1108, or the like. The repeater may receive the accessprocedure configuration using, for example, antenna 510, controller 530,communication component 540, reception component 904, or the like.

In some aspects, the base station may transmit, and the repeater mayreceive, the access procedure configuration in a special-purpose controlsignal associated with configuring involvement of repeaters in accessprocedures. The special-purpose control signal may be a signal thatuses, for example, a DCI format that is configured differently from acommon-purpose control signal (e.g. a different radio network temporaryidentifier (RNTI), different resources, or the like). In other words, insome aspects, the access procedure configuration may be conveyed in acontrol signal defined for conveying access procedure configurations.

Alternatively, in some aspects, the base station may transmit, and therepeater may receive, the access procedure configuration in acommon-purpose control signal that includes an indication that thecommon-purpose control signal is associated with configuring involvementof the repeater in the access procedure. For example, the accessprocedure configuration may be provided in a common-purpose controlsignal (e.g., DCI) that includes a header indicating that the purpose ofthe common-purpose control signal is associated with configuringinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure.

In some aspects, the repeater receives a signal associated with theaccess procedure from a first wireless communication device and forwardsthe signal to a second wireless communication device. In some aspects,the repeater receives and/or forwards the signal based at least in parton the access procedure configuration and other information associatedwith the access procedure (e.g., information previously received by therepeater). The other information may include, for example, informationindicating a location (e.g., in a time-domain) of a set of SSBs, RMSIPDCCH configuration and resources associated with each SSB of the set ofSSBs, a RACH message configuration and resources associated with SSB ofthe set of SSBs, and/or a PDCCH configuration and resource for RACHresponses associated with the RACH messages. In some aspects, such otherinformation may be received from the base station via a SIB, an RRCmessage, or the like (e.g., when the repeater acquires SI associatedwith the base station, as described above). The repeater may receive thesignal using, for example, antenna 510, controller 530, communicationcomponent 540, reception component 904, or the like. The repeater mayforward the signal using, for example, antenna 510, controller 530,communication component 540, forwarding component 906, transmissioncomponent 908, or the like

As an example, as shown by reference 606, the repeater may receive afirst signal associated with the access procedure from the base stationand, as shown by reference 608, may forward the first signal to the UE.The first signal may include, for example, a first SSB transmitted bythe base station. Here, the access procedure configuration may indicate(e.g., via a one bit indication, via a bitmap, or the like), that therepeater is to forward the first SSB, and the other information mayidentify resources in which the base station is to transmit the firstSSB. In this example, the repeater may, based at least in part on theaccess procedure configuration and the other information, receive thesignal in the resources associated with the first SSB and may forwardthe signal to the UE.

As another example, as shown by reference 610, the repeater may receivea second signal associated with the access procedure from the UE and, asshown by reference 612, may forward the second signal to the basestation. The second signal may include, for example, a RACH messageassociated with the first SSB. Here, the access procedure configurationmay indicate (e.g., via a one bit indication, via a bitmap, or thelike), that the repeater is to forward RACH messages associated with thefirst SSB, and the other information may identify resources in whichRACH messages associated with the first SSB are to be transmitted byUEs. In this example, the repeater may, based at least in part on theaccess procedure configuration and the other information, receive thesignal in the resources associated with RACH messages associated withthe first SSB and may forward the signal to the base station.

In some aspects, the repeater may forward the signal further based atleast in part on a beamforming configuration received by the repeater(e.g., a beamforming configuration included in the access procedureconfiguration, a beamforming configuration received by the repeater atan earlier time, or the like).

As indicated above, FIG. 6 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with respect to FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example process 700 performed, forexample, by a repeater, in accordance with the present disclosure.Example process 700 is an example where the repeater (e.g., mmW repeater140, mmW repeater 500, and/or the like) performs operations associatedwith access procedure configuration of a repeater.

As shown in FIG. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may include receivingconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in an access procedure (block 710). For example, the repeater(e.g., using antenna 510, controller 530, communication component 540,and/or the like) may receive configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in an access procedure, asdescribed above in association with, for example, reference 604 of FIG.6.

As further shown in FIG. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may includereceiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device (block 720). For example, the repeater(e.g., using antenna 510, controller 530, communication component 540,MUX/DEMULTIPLEXER 550, and/or the like) may receive a signal associatedwith the access procedure from a first wireless communication device, asdescribed above in association with, for example, references 606 and 610of FIG. 6.

As further shown in FIG. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may includeforwarding the signal associated with the access procedure to a secondwireless communication device based at least in part on theconfiguration information and other information, associated with theaccess procedure received by the repeater (block 730). For example, therepeater (e.g., using antenna 510, gain component 520, controller 530,communication component 540, MUX/DEMULTIPLEXER 550, and/or the like) mayforward the signal associated with the access procedure to a secondwireless communication device based at least in part on theconfiguration information and other information, associated with theaccess procedure, received by the repeater, as described above inassociation with, for example, references 608 and 612 of FIG. 6.

Process 700 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect orany combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with oneor more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first aspect, the signal is forwarded further based at least inpart on other information, associated with the access procedure,received by the repeater. In a second aspect, alone or in combinationwith the first aspect, the other information associated with the accessprocedure is received via at least one of: a system information block,or a radio resource control message.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstand second aspects, the configuration information includes an indicationof whether to forward signals in resources associated with at least oneof: a set of SSBs, PDCCHs associated with scheduling remaining minimumsystem information associated with the set of SSBs, RACH messagesassociated with the set of SSBs, or PDCCHs associated with schedulingRACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the set of SSBs. Ina fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough third aspects, the indication is carried in a single bit. In afifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough fourth aspects, the indication is carried in a bitmap.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough fifth aspects, the configuration information includes a bitmapcomprising a set of bits, and a bit of the set of bits indicates whetherto forward signals in resources associated with an SSB of a set of SSBsand at least one of: PDCCHs associated with scheduling remaining minimumsystem information associated with the SSB, RACH messages associatedwith the SSB, or PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACH responses forthe RACH messages associated with the SSB. In a seventh aspect, alone orin combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, anumber of bits in the bitmap matches a maximum number of SSBs for afrequency range in which the repeater is operating. In an eighth aspect,alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventhaspects, a number of bits in the bitmap matches a number of SSBsactually transmitted by a base station. In a ninth aspect, alone or incombination with one or more of the first through eighth aspects, thebitmap is a compressed bitmap such that a number of bits in the bitmapis less than a number of SSBs actually transmitted by a base station.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough ninth aspects, the configuration information includes abeamforming configuration.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through tenth aspects, the configuration information is receivedvia at least one of: downlink control information, a medium accesscontrol control element, or radio resource control signaling.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through eleventh aspects, the configuration information isreceived in a special-purpose control signal associated with configuringinvolvement of repeaters in access procedures. In a thirteenth aspect,alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twelfthaspects, the configuration information is received in a common-purposecontrol signal that includes an indication that the common-purposecontrol signal is associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in the access procedure.

In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through thirteenth aspects, the repeater operates in a millimeterwave frequency range. In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combinationwith one or more of the first through fourteenth aspects, the repeaterhas a control interface to a base station associated with configuringoperation of the repeater. In a sixteenth aspect, alone or incombination with one or more of the first through fifteenth aspects, thesignal is forwarded based at least in part on a beamformingconfiguration received by the repeater.

Although FIG. 7 shows example blocks of process 700, in some aspects,process 700 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, differentblocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in FIG. 7.Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 700may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example process 800 performed, forexample, by a base station, in accordance with the present disclosure.Example process 800 is an example where the base station (e.g., basestation 110 and/or the like) performs operations associated with accessprocedure configuration of a repeater.

As shown in FIG. 8, in some aspects, process 800 may include determiningconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of arepeater in an access procedure when forwarding a signal, received froma first wireless communication device, to a second wirelesscommunication device (block 810). For example, the base station (e.g.,using transmit processor 220, receive processor 238,controller/processor 240, memory 242, and/or the like) may determineconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of arepeater (e.g., mmW repeater 140) in an access procedure when forwardinga signal, received from a first wireless communication device, to asecond wireless communication device, as described above in associationwith, for example, reference 602 of FIG. 6.

As further shown in FIG. 8, in some aspects, process 800 may includetransmitting the configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure and otherinformation associated with the access procedure to the repeater (block820). For example, the base station (e.g., using transmit processor 220,controller/processor 240, memory 242, and/or the like) may transmit theconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in the access procedure and other information associated withthe access procedure to the repeater, as described above in associationwith, for example, reference 604 of FIG. 6.

Process 800 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect orany combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with oneor more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first aspect, other information associated with the accessprocedure is transmitted to the repeater. In a second aspect, alone orin combination with the first aspect, the other information associatedwith the access procedure is transmitted via at least one of: a systeminformation block, or a radio resource control message.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstand second aspects, the configuration information includes an indicationof whether the repeater is to forward signals in resources associatedwith at least one of: a set of SSBs, PDCCHs associated with schedulingremaining minimum system information associated with the set of SSBs,RACH messages associated with the set of SSBs, or PDCCHs associated withscheduling RACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the setof SSBs. In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through third aspects, the indication is carried in a singlebit. In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through fourth aspects, the indication is carried in a bitmap.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough fifth aspects, the configuration information includes a bitmapcomprising a set of bits, and a bit of the set of bits indicates whetherthe repeater is to forward signals in resources associated with an SSBof a set of SSBs and at least one of: PDCCHs associated with schedulingremaining minimum system information associated with the SSB, RACHmessages associated with the SSB, or PDCCHs associated with schedulingRACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the SSB. In aseventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough sixth aspects, a number of bits in the bitmap matches a maximumnumber of SSBs for a frequency range in which the repeater is operating.In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through seventh aspects, a number of bits in the bitmap matches anumber of SSBs actually transmitted by the base station. In a ninthaspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first througheighth aspects, the bitmap is a compressed bitmap such that a number ofbits in the bitmap is less than a number of SSBs actually transmitted bythe base station.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough ninth aspects, the configuration information includes abeamforming configuration.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through tenth aspects, the configuration information istransmitted via at least one of: downlink control information, a mediumaccess control control element, or radio resource control signaling.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through eleventh aspects, the configuration information istransmitted in a special-purpose control signal associated withconfiguring involvement of repeaters in access procedures. In athirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the firstthrough twelfth aspects, the configuration information is transmitted ina common-purpose control signal that includes an indication that thecommon-purpose control signal is associated with configuring involvementof the repeater in the access procedure.

In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of thefirst through thirteenth aspects, the repeater operates in a millimeterwave frequency range. In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combinationwith one or more of the first through fourteenth aspects, the basestation has a control interface to the repeater.

Although FIG. 8 shows example blocks of process 800, in some aspects,process 800 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, differentblocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in FIG. 8.Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 800may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram 900 illustrating a data flowbetween different components in an example apparatus 902. The apparatus902 may be a repeater (e.g., mmW repeater 140). In some aspects, theapparatus 902 includes a reception component 904, a forwarding component906, and/or a transmission component 908.

In some aspects, reception component 904 may receive configurationinformation associated with configuring involvement of the repeater inan access procedure, and may receive a signal associated with the accessprocedure from a first wireless communication device. In some aspects,the forwarding component 906 and/or the transmission component 908 mayforward the signal associated with the access procedure to a secondwireless communication device based at least in part on theconfiguration information and other information, associated with theaccess procedure, received by the repeater.

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned process 700 of FIG. 7and/or the like. Each block in the aforementioned process 700 of FIG. 7and/or the like may be performed by a component and the apparatus mayinclude one or more of those components. The components may be one ormore hardware components specifically configured to carry out the statedprocesses/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to performthe stated processes/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable mediumfor implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

The number and arrangement of components shown in FIG. 9 are provided asan example. In practice, there may be additional components, fewercomponents, different components, or differently arranged componentsthan those shown in FIG. 9. Furthermore, two or more components shown inFIG. 9 may be implemented within a single component, or a singlecomponent shown in FIG. 9 may be implemented as multiple, distributedcomponents. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of components (e.g.,one or more components) shown in FIG. 9 may perform one or morefunctions described as being performed by another set of componentsshown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 902′ employing a processing system 1002.The apparatus 902′ may be a repeater (e.g., mmW repeater 140).

The processing system 1002 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 1004. The bus 1004 may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 1002 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 1004 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware components, represented by theprocessor 1006, the components 904, 906, and/or 908, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 1008. The bus 1004 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore will not be described any further.

The processing system 1002 may be coupled to a transceiver 1010. Thetransceiver 1010 is coupled to one or more antennas 1012. Thetransceiver 1010 provides a means for communicating with various otherapparatuses over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1010 receives asignal from the one or more antennas 1012, extracts information from thereceived signal, and provides the extracted information to theprocessing system 1002, specifically the reception component 904. Inaddition, the transceiver 1010 receives information from the processingsystem 1002, specifically the transmission component 908, and based atleast in part on the received information, generates a signal to beapplied to the one or more antennas 1012. The processing system 1002includes a processor 1006 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory1008. The processor 1006 is responsible for general processing,including the execution of software stored on the computer-readablemedium/memory 1008. The software, when executed by the processor 1006,causes the processing system 1002 to perform the various functionsdescribed herein for any particular apparatus. The computer-readablemedium/memory 1008 may also be used for storing data that is manipulatedby the processor 1006 when executing software. The processing systemfurther includes at least one of the components 904, 906, and/or 908.The components may be software modules running in the processor 1006,resident/stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1008, one or morehardware modules coupled to the processor 1006, or some combinationthereof. The processing system 1002 may be a component of the UE 120 andmay include the memory 282 and/or at least one of the TX MIMO processor266, the RX processor 258, and/or the controller/processor 280.

In some aspects, the apparatus 902/902′ for wireless communicationincludes means for receiving configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the apparatus 902/902′ in an accessprocedure; means for receiving a signal associated with the accessprocedure from a first wireless communication device; means forforwarding the signal associated with the access procedure to a secondwireless communication device based at least in part on theconfiguration information and other information, associated with theaccess procedure, received by the repeater; and/or the like. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned componentsof the apparatus 902 and/or the processing system 1002 of the apparatus902′ configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementionedmeans. As described elsewhere herein, the processing system 1002 mayinclude the TX MIMO processor 266, the RX processor 258, and/or thecontroller/processor 280. In one configuration, the aforementioned meansmay be the TX MIMO processor 266, the RX processor 258, and/or thecontroller/processor 280 configured to perform the functions and/oroperations recited herein.

FIG. 10 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from whatis described in connection with FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1100 illustrating a data flowbetween different components in an example apparatus 1102. The apparatus1102 may be a base station (e.g., base station 110). In some aspects,the apparatus 1102 includes a reception component 1104, a determinationcomponent 1106, and/or a transmission component 1108.

In some aspects, determination component 1106 may determineconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of arepeater in an access procedure when forwarding a signal, received froma first wireless communication device, to a second wirelesscommunication device. In some aspects, transmission component 908 maytransmit the configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure and otherinformation associated with the access procedure to the repeater.

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned process 800 of FIG. 8and/or the like. Each block in the aforementioned process 800 of FIG. 8and/or the like may be performed by a component and the apparatus mayinclude one or more of those components. The components may be one ormore hardware components specifically configured to carry out the statedprocesses/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to performthe stated processes/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable mediumfor implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

The number and arrangement of components shown in FIG. 11 are providedas an example. In practice, there may be additional components, fewercomponents, different components, or differently arranged componentsthan those shown in FIG. 11. Furthermore, two or more components shownin FIG. 11 may be implemented within a single component, or a singlecomponent shown in FIG. 11 may be implemented as multiple, distributedcomponents. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of components (e.g.,one or more components) shown in FIG. 11 may perform one or morefunctions described as being performed by another set of componentsshown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 1102′ employing a processing system1202. The apparatus 1102′ may be a base station (e.g., base station110).

The processing system 1202 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 1204. The bus 1204 may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 1202 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 1204 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware components, represented by theprocessor 1206, the components 1104, 1106, and/or 1108, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 1208. The bus 1204 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore will not be described any further.

The processing system 1202 may be coupled to a transceiver 1210. Thetransceiver 1210 is coupled to one or more antennas 1212. Thetransceiver 1210 provides a means for communicating with various otherapparatuses over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1210 receives asignal from the one or more antennas 1212, extracts information from thereceived signal, and provides the extracted information to theprocessing system 1202, specifically the reception component 1104. Inaddition, the transceiver 1210 receives information from the processingsystem 1202, specifically the transmission component 1108, and based atleast in part on the received information, generates a signal to beapplied to the one or more antennas 1212. The processing system 1202includes a processor 1206 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory1208. The processor 1206 is responsible for general processing,including the execution of software stored on the computer-readablemedium/memory 1208. The software, when executed by the processor 1206,causes the processing system 1202 to perform the various functionsdescribed herein for any particular apparatus. The computer-readablemedium/memory 1208 may also be used for storing data that is manipulatedby the processor 1206 when executing software. The processing systemfurther includes at least one of the components 1104, 1106, and/or 1108.The components may be software modules running in the processor 1206,resident/stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1208, one or morehardware modules coupled to the processor 1206, or some combinationthereof. The processing system 1202 may be a component of the basestation 110 and may include the memory 242 and/or at least one of the TXMIMO processor 230, the RX processor 238, and/or thecontroller/processor 240.

In some aspects, the apparatus 1102/1102′ for wireless communicationincludes means for determining configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of a repeater in an access procedure whenforwarding a signal, received from a first wireless communicationdevice, to a second wireless communication device; means fortransmitting the configuration information associated with configuringinvolvement of the repeater in the access procedure and otherinformation associated with the access procedure to the repeater; and/orthe like. The aforementioned means may be one or more of theaforementioned components of the apparatus 1102 and/or the processingsystem 1202 of the apparatus 1102′ configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means. As described elsewhere herein, theprocessing system 1202 may include the TX MIMO processor 230, thereceive processor 238, and/or the controller/processor 240. In oneconfiguration, the aforementioned means may be the TX MIMO processor230, the receive processor 238, and/or the controller/processor 240configured to perform the functions and/or operations recited herein.

FIG. 12 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from whatis described in connection with FIG. 12.

The following provides an overview of some Aspects of the presentdisclosure:

Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a repeater,comprising: receiving configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in an access procedure;receiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device; and forwarding the signal associated withthe access procedure to a second wireless communication device based atleast in part on the configuration information.

Aspect 2: The method of Aspect 1, wherein the signal is forwardedfurther based at least in part on other information, associated with theaccess procedure, received by the repeater.

Aspect 3: The method of Aspect 2, wherein the other informationassociated with the access procedure is received via at least one of: asystem information block, or a radio resource control message.

Aspect 4: The method of any of Aspects 1-3, wherein the configurationinformation includes an indication of whether to forward signals inresources associated with at least one of: a set of synchronizationsignal blocks (SSBs), physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs)associated with scheduling remaining minimum system informationassociated with the set of SSBs, random access channel (RACH) messagesassociated with the set of SSBs, or PDCCHs associated with schedulingRACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the set of SSBs.

Aspect 5: The method of Aspect 4, wherein the indication is carried in asingle bit.

Aspect 6: The method of any of Aspects 4-5, wherein the indication iscarried in a bitmap.

Aspect 7: The method of any of Aspects 1-6, wherein the configurationinformation includes a bitmap comprising a set of bits, wherein a bit ofthe set of bits indicates whether to forward signals in resourcesassociated with a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a set of SSBsand at least one of: physical downlink control channel (PDCCHs)associated with scheduling remaining minimum system informationassociated with the SSB, random access channel (RACH) messagesassociated with the SSB, or PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACHresponses for the RACH messages associated with the SSB.

Aspect 8: The method of Aspect 7, wherein a number of bits in the bitmapmatches a maximum number of SSBs for a frequency range in which therepeater is operating.

Aspect 9: The method of Aspect 7, wherein a number of bits in the bitmapmatches a number of SSBs actually transmitted by a base station.

Aspect 10: The method of Aspect 7, wherein the bitmap is a compressedbitmap such that a number of bits in the bitmap is less than a number ofSSBs actually transmitted by a base station.

Aspect 11: The method of any of Aspects 1-10, wherein the configurationinformation includes a beamforming configuration.

Aspect 12: The method of any of Aspects 1-11, wherein the configurationinformation is received via at least one of: downlink controlinformation, a medium access control control element, or radio resourcecontrol signaling.

Aspect 13: The method of any of Aspects 1-12, wherein the configurationinformation is received in a special-purpose control signal associatedwith configuring involvement of repeaters in access procedures.

Aspect 14: The method of any of Aspects 1-12, wherein the configurationinformation is received in a common-purpose control signal that includesan indication that the common-purpose control signal is associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in the access procedure.

Aspect 15: The method of any of Aspects 1-14, wherein the repeateroperates in a millimeter wave frequency range.

Aspect 16: The method of any of Aspects 1-15, wherein the repeater has acontrol interface to a base station associated with configuringoperation of the repeater.

Aspect 17: The method of any of Aspects 1-16, wherein the signal isforwarded based at least in part on a beamforming configuration receivedby the repeater.

Aspect 18: A method of wireless communication performed by a basestation, comprising: determining configuration information associatedwith configuring involvement of a repeater in an access procedure whenforwarding a signal, received from a first wireless communicationdevice, to a second wireless communication device; and transmitting theconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in the access procedure.

Aspect 19: The method of Aspect 18, wherein other information associatedwith the access procedure is transmitted to the repeater.

Aspect 20: The method of Aspect 19, wherein the other informationassociated with the access procedure is transmitted via at least one of:a system information block, or a radio resource control message.

Aspect 21: The method of any of Aspects 18-20, wherein the configurationinformation includes an indication of whether the repeater is to forwardsignals in resources associated with at least one of: a set ofsynchronization signal blocks (SSBs), physical downlink control channel(PDCCHs) associated with scheduling remaining minimum system informationassociated with the set of SSBs, random access channel (RACH) messagesassociated with the set of SSBs, or PDCCHs associated with schedulingRACH responses for the RACH messages associated with the set of SSBs.

Aspect 22: The method of Aspect 21, wherein the indication is carried ina single bit.

Aspect 23: The method of Aspect 21, wherein the indication is carried ina bitmap.

Aspect 24: The method of any of Aspects 18-23, wherein the configurationinformation includes a bitmap comprising a set of bits, wherein a bit ofthe set of bits indicates whether the repeater is to forward signals inresources associated with a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a setof SSBs and at least one of: physical downlink control channel (PDCCHs)associated with scheduling remaining minimum system informationassociated with the SSB, random access channel (RACH) messagesassociated with the SSB, or PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACHresponses for the RACH messages associated with the SSB.

Aspect 25: The method of Aspect 24, wherein a number of bits in thebitmap matches a maximum number of SSBs for a frequency range in whichthe repeater is operating.

Aspect 26: The method of Aspect 24, wherein a number of bits in thebitmap matches a number of SSBs actually transmitted by the basestation.

Aspect 27: The method of Aspect 24, wherein the bitmap is a compressedbitmap such that a number of bits in the bitmap is less than a number ofSSBs actually transmitted by the base station.

Aspect 28: The method of any of Aspects 18-27, wherein the configurationinformation includes a beamforming configuration.

Aspect 29: The method of any of Aspects 18-28, wherein the configurationinformation is transmitted via at least one of: downlink controlinformation, a medium access control control element, or radio resourcecontrol signaling.

Aspect 30: The method of any of Aspects 18-29, wherein the configurationinformation is transmitted in a special-purpose control signalassociated with configuring involvement of repeaters in accessprocedures.

Aspect 31: The method of any of Aspects 18-29, wherein the configurationinformation is transmitted in a common-purpose control signal thatincludes an indication that the common-purpose control signal isassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the accessprocedure.

Aspect 32: The method of any of Aspects 18-31, wherein the repeateroperates in a millimeter wave frequency range.

Aspect 33: The method of any of Aspects 18-32, wherein the base stationhas a control interface to the repeater.

Aspect 34: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device,comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to perform the method of one or more Aspects ofAspects 1-17.

Aspect 35: A device for wireless communication, comprising a memory andone or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory and the one ormore processors configured to perform the method of one or more Aspectsof Aspects 1-17.

Aspect 36: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at leastone means for performing the method of one or more Aspects of Aspects1-17.

Aspect 37: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by aprocessor to perform the method of one or more Aspects of Aspects 1-17.

Aspect 38: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set ofinstructions for wireless communication, the set of instructionscomprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors of a device, cause the device to perform the method of one ormore Aspects of Aspects 1-17.

Aspect 39: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device,comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to perform the method of one or more Aspects ofAspects 18-33.

Aspect 40: A device for wireless communication, comprising a memory andone or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory and the one ormore processors configured to perform the method of one or more Aspectsof Aspects 18-33.

Aspect 41: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at leastone means for performing the method of one or more Aspects of Aspects18-33.

Aspect 42: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by aprocessor to perform the method of one or more Aspects of Aspects 18-33.

Aspect 43: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set ofinstructions for wireless communication, the set of instructionscomprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors of a device, cause the device to perform the method of one ormore Aspects of Aspects 18-33.

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the preciseform disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of theabove disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the aspects.

As used herein, the term “component” is intended to be broadly construedas hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software. “Software”shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code,code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules,applications, software applications, software packages, routines,subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures,and/or functions, among other examples, whether referred to as software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, orotherwise. As used herein, a processor is implemented in hardware and/ora combination of hardware and software.

As used herein, satisfying a threshold may, depending on the context,refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equalto the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to thethreshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, and/orthe like.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described herein may beimplemented in different forms of hardware and/or a combination ofhardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware orsoftware code used to implement these systems and/or methods is notlimiting of the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systemsand/or methods were described herein without reference to specificsoftware code—it being understood that software and hardware can bedesigned to implement the systems and/or methods based, at least inpart, on the description herein.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many ofthese features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependentclaim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosureof various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination withevery other claim in the claim set. As used herein, a phrase referringto “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of thoseitems, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b,or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well asany combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a,a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or anyother ordering of a, b, and c).

No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed ascritical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Also, as usedherein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or moreitems and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.” Further, asused herein, the article “the” is intended to include one or more itemsreferenced in connection with the article “the” and may be usedinterchangeably with “the one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, theterms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more items (e.g.,related items, unrelated items, or a combination of related andunrelated items), and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.”Where only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similarlanguage is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,”“having,” or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, thephrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or”is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be usedinterchangeably with “and/or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g.,if used in combination with “either” or “only one of”).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication performed by arepeater, comprising: receiving configuration information associatedwith configuring involvement of the repeater in an access procedure;receiving a signal associated with the access procedure from a firstwireless communication device; and forwarding the signal associated withthe access procedure to a second wireless communication device based atleast in part on the configuration information and other information,associated with the access procedure, received by the repeater.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the other information associated with theaccess procedure is received via at least one of: a system informationblock, or a radio resource control message.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration information includes an indication of whetherto forward signals in resources associated with at least one of: a setof synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), physical downlink controlchannels (PDCCHs) associated with scheduling remaining minimum systeminformation associated with the set of SSBs, random access channel(RACH) messages associated with the set of SSBs, or PDCCHs associatedwith scheduling RACH responses for the RACH messages associated with theset of SSBs.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the indication is carriedin a single bit.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the indication iscarried in a bitmap.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the configurationinformation includes a bitmap comprising a set of bits, wherein a bit ofthe set of bits indicates whether to forward signals in resourcesassociated with a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a set of SSBsand at least one of: physical downlink control channel (PDCCHs)associated with scheduling remaining minimum system informationassociated with the SSB, random access channel (RACH) messagesassociated with the SSB, or PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACHresponses for the RACH messages associated with the SSB.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein a number of bits in the bitmap matches a maximumnumber of SSBs for a frequency range in which the repeater is operating.8. The method of claim 6, wherein a number of bits in the bitmap matchesa number of SSBs actually transmitted by a base station.
 9. The methodof claim 6, wherein the bitmap is a compressed bitmap such that a numberof bits in the bitmap is less than a number of SSBs actually transmittedby a base station.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the configurationinformation includes a beamforming configuration.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the configuration information is received via at leastone of: downlink control information, a medium access control controlelement, or radio resource control signaling.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration information is received in a special-purposecontrol signal associated with configuring involvement of repeaters inaccess procedures.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the configurationinformation is received in a common-purpose control signal that includesan indication that the common-purpose control signal is associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in the access procedure.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the repeater operates in a millimeter wavefrequency range.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the repeater has acontrol interface to a base station associated with configuringoperation of the repeater.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the signalis forwarded based at least in part on a beamforming configurationreceived by the repeater.
 17. A method of wireless communicationperformed by a base station, comprising: determining configurationinformation associated with configuring involvement of a repeater in anaccess procedure when forwarding a signal, received from a firstwireless communication device, to a second wireless communicationdevice; and transmitting the configuration information associated withconfiguring involvement of the repeater in the access procedure andother information associated with access procedure to the repeater. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein the other information associated withthe access procedure is transmitted via at least one of: a systeminformation block, or a radio resource control message.
 19. The methodof claim 17, wherein the configuration information includes anindication of whether the repeater is to forward signals in resourcesassociated with at least one of: a set of synchronization signal blocks(SSBs), physical downlink control channel (PDCCHs) associated withscheduling remaining minimum system information associated with the setof SSBs, random access channel (RACH) messages associated with the setof SSBs, or PDCCHs associated with scheduling RACH responses for theRACH messages associated with the set of SSBs.
 20. The method of claim19, wherein the indication is carried in a single bit.
 21. The method ofclaim 19, wherein the indication is carried in a bitmap.
 22. The methodof claim 17, wherein the configuration information includes a bitmapcomprising a set of bits, wherein a bit of the set of bits indicateswhether the repeater is to forward signals in resources associated witha synchronization signal block (SSB) of a set of SSBs and at least oneof: physical downlink control channel (PDCCHs) associated withscheduling remaining minimum system information associated with the SSB,random access channel (RACH) messages associated with the SSB, or PDCCHsassociated with scheduling RACH responses for the RACH messagesassociated with the SSB.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein a number ofbits in the bitmap matches a maximum number of SSBs for a frequencyrange in which the repeater is operating.
 24. The method of claim 22,wherein a number of bits in the bitmap matches a number of SSBs actuallytransmitted by the base station.
 25. The method of claim 22, wherein thebitmap is a compressed bitmap such that a number of bits in the bitmapis less than a number of SSBs actually transmitted by the base station.26. The method of claim 17, wherein the configuration informationincludes a beamforming configuration.
 27. The method of claim 17,wherein the configuration information is transmitted in one of: aspecial-purpose control signal associated with configuring involvementof repeaters in access procedures, or a common-purpose control signalthat includes an indication that the common-purpose control signal isassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the accessprocedure.
 28. The method of claim 17, wherein the configurationinformation is transmitted in a common-purpose control signal thatincludes an indication that the common-purpose control signal isassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the accessprocedure.
 29. A repeater for wireless communication, comprising: amemory; and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory,the memory and the one or more processors configured to: receiveconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of therepeater in an access procedure; receive a signal associated with theaccess procedure from a first wireless communication device; and forwardthe signal associated with the access procedure to a second wirelesscommunication device based at least in part on the configurationinformation.
 30. A base station for wireless communication, comprising:a memory; and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory,the memory and the one or more processors configured to: determineconfiguration information associated with configuring involvement of arepeater in an access procedure when forwarding a signal, received froma first wireless communication device, to a second wirelesscommunication device; and transmit the configuration informationassociated with configuring involvement of the repeater in the accessprocedure.